The booklet contains 16 pages of puzzles and fun activities for kids including several environmental messages.

Although, I confess... it was touch-and-go towards the end. 

The morning of our final day took us on a 35km cycle through picturesque countryside and small villages to a temple called Banteay Srei.  It is also known as the ‘woman temple’ because it is so beautiful and intricate that it must be the work of a woman…of course! 

After exploring the temple, and a short watermelon party, (one of several such parties we enjoyed during the 10 days) we headed towards the Rolous Group which are pre Angkor period temples.   It was 40 degrees at midday and we had what seemed an endless road ahead – 35kms of pure hell!  With no tree in site and being very short on water, this was a huge challenge (as promised by CARE).  It took everyone’s will power not to give up and get into our air-conditioned support vehicle.  After an enormously tough ride, we literally collapsed when we finally reached our destination, which included……..lunch!

Of course We Are Powerful Women,  so after a good dose of Angkor beer, a few fresh spring rolls and a dish of fish laab (fantastic food) we easily managed the last 1 km to the temple to soak up its history.

The final leg, 18kms to Siem Reap, flew by.  It was the home stretch, and we got to negotiate peak hour Khmer style which was very exciting. We cycled a total of 87 km on this, our last day and finally arrived at our hotel where we found a congratulations banner held high for us to cycle under as we crossed the finish line as a team. 

For video footage see http://inspiredadventures.posterous.com

Although, I have to confess... it was touch-and-go towards the end.

The morning of our final day took us on a 35km cycle through picturesque countryside and small villages to a temple called Banteay Srei.  It is also known as the ‘woman temple’ because it is so beautiful and intricate that it must be the work of a woman…of course!

After exploring the temple, and a short watermelon party, (one of several such parties we enjoyed during the 10 days) we headed towards the Rolous Group which are pre Angkor period temples. It was 40 degrees at midday and we had what seemed an endless road ahead – 35kms of pure hell!  With no tree in site and being very short on water, this was a huge challenge (as promised by CARE). It took everyone’s will power not to give up and get into our air-conditioned support vehicle.  After an enormously tough ride, we literally collapsed when we finally reached our destination, which included……..lunch!

Of course We Are Powerful Women,  so after a good dose of Angkor beer, a few fresh spring rolls and a dish of fish laab (fantastic food) we easily managed the last 1 km to the temple to soak up its history.

The final leg, 18kms to Siem Reap, flew by. It was the home stretch, and we negotiated peak hour traffic, Khmer style, which was very exciting. We cycled a total of 87 km on this, our last day and finally arrived at our hotel where we found a congratulations banner held high for us to cycle under as we crossed the finish line as a team.

For video footage see http://inspiredadventures.posterous.com

I am afraid I have not been a very consistent blogger. It is difficult not only to find something interesting to say every week but also to find time to say it! So please forgive my lapses. I prefer to see it as quality over quantity! 

Thank you to all my beautiful friends and to my friends beautiful friends for coming to our party at The Manly Yacht Club last Thursday. In terms of both fun had and funds raised it was a very successful evening – we raised just over $1,500! A very special thank you to all who helped pull it together at very short notice, Cath and Toucia in particular. I am so sorry that I forgot to bring my camera so there are no photos :–(, however, I promise to publish photos of the next function, on Feb 19 at the Tay Ho Vietnamese Restaurant in Dee Why. More prizes and more fun. Please contact me for details, jane@savvygraphics.com.au

It is important that I thank my very generous sponsors, Distribution Central – www.distributioncentral.com – Device Technologies – www.device.com.au – and Mind Body Motion Fitness Solutions www.mindbodymotion.com.au Also special thanks to our prize donors including the Manly Pacific Hotel, Wine Selectors, The Brookvale Hotel and Brookvale Cellars. First prize went to Trish & Greg, second prize to Hamish and Cath and third prize went to the lovely Victoria from CARE Australia.  

To date, my tally sits at $8,072.26, only 2k off target!! Visit www.savvygraphics.com.au/cyclingforCARE. With one month to go, I am feeling pretty confident. Thank you once again to all those beautiful friends. Must get back to training now…

This week I went along to my first group training session with Mind Body Motion Fitness Solutions. You know the kind, a group of about 10 people all different ages and levels of fitness, working out together. I have to confess, I was the last lonely soul left running around the oval at the end of the session, but that just means I have great potential for improvement! Naturally the trainer is young, trim and gorgeous and doesn’t raise a sweat, while the trainees all huff and puff and try to sneak in a rest when she isn’t looking.  

Working out with us was the gorgeous Kaz, the owner of the business. Kaz is incredibly fit. She works out during the day with her groups and personal training clients then comes along at 6pm to take part in Gemma’s class because she hasn’t had enough! Kaz is completely mad about fitness. In time, I am sure some of it will rub off on me.

Not only has Kaz generously sponsored me with a cash donation but she has also spent time devising two programs for me.  One for my general fitness, and the other, a cycling program.  As well as giving me her time, Kaz has invited me to take part (at no cost) in any group training session she offers up until my cycle challenge! Kaz, your support is very much appreciated and thanks to you I am feeling fabulous (and just a little bit sore). 

To contact the lovely Kaz, visit www.mindbodymotion.com.au 

This is actually the end of my 4th week of my cycle training. Christmas always gets in the way of routine but now I am back and feeling pretty happy with my progress.  I promise that I have continued to cycle every day even when the sky dropped a tonne of water on my head while I was 4kms from home.  

 

This week I discovered that bikes need maintenance. Fortunately the guys from the Brookvale Bike Factory have been fabulous. So far, I have been to their shop 3 times with little problems – First to purchase a replacement for a broken bike helmet. Second, my handle bars slipped around into a position that made changing gear impossible. I dropped in and they fixed it for me on the spot, no charge. Thirdly, my chain fell off (Note to self: remember to pedal while changing gear) but luckily, this happened when I was only a few hundred yards from their workshop. No quick fix this time, they took my bike in and gave it the once over.

This is what they found: 

My bike has a stretched chain so it needs replacing. The sprockets on the rear tyre (please forgive my lack of correct cycling jargon) will also need replacing because it’s a sure thing that once the chain is replaced, it’ll put pressure on those other bits. The sprockets on the front tyre also should be replaced for the same reason. The gears do not actually work properly and the wire that makes the gears work is slack (it shouldn’t be). The handle grips are slipping which could cause an accident and the rear tyre has a nice bald patch worn down to the stitching. An explosion just waiting to happen when I am as far from home as possible! 

Cost for getting my bike back to good working order? Let's just say my Mastercard is also getting a workout!